Well another Ambon dive trip under our belt, its always so good to arrive in Ambon all the old helpful faces and knowing you are going to give your customers an under water and cultural experience they will never forget
Day One
Early Friday morning we all arrive at Darwin airport,
still wiping the sleep from our eyes. As we check in
for our trip to Bali, I look around and there are not
too many smiling faces this time of the morning.
We arrived in Bali with a bit more enthusiasm in every
ones faces, clear customs then load our personal bags
on a truck to go to the resort at Pading Bai, our dive
gear and ourselves on to the bus and head for Talumben
to dive the wreck of the Liberty
Every one had a great first dive, we then had lunch while
we waited for the correct surface interval before our
second dive, Sonny and Elaine pulled out of the second
dive using all the lame excuses you could think of, as
soon as we descended they were straight to the bar
for the first Beer Bintang for the trip. The worst thing
about this dive was Peter saw the Indonesian girls taking
his gear back to the bus and expected every one else to
do it for him for the rest of the trip.
After our days diving we headed back to the resort at Pading Bai and lay around in the pool having a few beers while we waited for dinner. After dinner most of us took up the offer for our free Balinese massage, except for the guys too-shy to get their gear off, we wont mention any names though will we Mike or Manny.
Day Two
Early the next morning we were up in the air again on our way to Ambon with a short stop over at Unjapunja. After all the official formalities at Ambon airport we loaded on the bus and headed for Ambon city where we stayed for the next nine nights. As we drove around the harbour I explained a few things about Ambonese culture and how the conflict in Ambon came about and how settled it is now.
That night we went by be-jack (a three wheel bike where
we sit in the front and a guy on the back pedals like shit, I
think us Aussies are a bit heaver than Ambonese people)
to maples restaurant for most of our customers first taste
of Ambonese food.
Day Three
It's seven in the morning and every body has had a good sleep, down stairs and ready to board the bus and head across the mountain to Hukurilla village for the start of twelve magnificent dives.
The main highlights for me, and always will be, are Pinta-Kota and Hukurilla cave dives. I call these "heaven under water" (the colors and fish life are as good as any dive in the world) and we are the only divers there, absolutely magnificent. All other dives are really good but these two are my favorites.
Wall dives always gave us adventures of coral and sponge gardens with nudibranchs, turtles, painted-crays, moray eels, lion fish and many more sights and experiences
Then to top off a great ten days of diving, after the last dive the villagers put on a seafood spread for lunch of fish, crays, bread fruit, sweet potatoes and Indonesian salads and spices. All gorged themselves.
I would personally like to thank Mouin and Maya, our Indonesian dive guides from Pari divers, and all my customers for their cooperation throughout the trip. I hope you all had as much fun and enjoyment as I did.
Next year we will be taking Wreck diver II to Indonesia for the month of March. This will give all of the comforts and speed that we are all used-to diving in Australia with Darwin Dive Centre. Wreck Diver II will leave from Ambon Harbor every morning so this will open up the dive sites on both sides of the Island, north and south as well as the three Islands where we will drift dive with the currents through monster pelagic fish and coral.
We are also in negotiations with airlines to charter a plane straight to Ambon from Darwin (this will be a trip not to miss). We will run two trips in March 2009 - one trip is already half full and its not even advertised yet so - first in best dressed gets to go so come down to the shop in Cullen Bay and register your interest.
Here is a few picks from our 2008 trip.
